


drew&rick oneshot | 2

by goldpeak



Category: The Night Shift (TV 2014)
Genre: Brianna - Freeform, Drew Alister - Freeform, Drew is sad, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Rick Lincoln - Freeform, Rick makes him not sad, SAMH, i love my sons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 09:42:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11506764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldpeak/pseuds/goldpeak
Summary: second installment in a series of drew&rick oneshots..!a rough shift has drew panicked and breaking down, but rick always knows what to do. this time is no exception.





	drew&rick oneshot | 2

drew's back slams against the door, and his hand fumbles with the lock as he slides down the said door until he's sat leaning against it. he inhales sharply, his breath stuttering and catching in his throat, and he tips his head back against the wall. he brings his knees up to his chest and crosses his arms on top of them, taking another shuddering breath and shutting his eyes against the dark of the storage room.

footsteps echo outside the door, nurses and patients and day shift doctors all passing by outside. opening his eyes to glance at his watch, he notes the time is a few minutes before 7 AM. he is technically off shift, so no one has any reason to come looking for him, hopefully.

his eyes begin to burn, and he raises a fist to rub at them. his hand comes away damp with his own tears, and that's when he realizes that he's begun to cry. he feels the next tear run down his cheek and he wipes it away with the hem of his shirt, sniffling furiously to try and stop them. his effort is fruitless as they continue to fall, and so he buries his face into his arms, and lets sobs heave his body.

the memories come flooding back to him, the feeling of his hands dry and cracked with dark red blood, splattered across the front of his scrubs, speckled on his jaw and neck - he takes another heaving breath and subconsciously wipes his hands on the fabric of his scrubs, as if wiping off the blood that is no longer there. it had been washed off, had swirled down the sink, now it was gone. just like the person it had come from.

logically, he knows that he couldn't have saved her no matter what. she'd come in already having lost most of her blood, two of her main arteries were punctured, and there hadn't been enough time to get more blood into her system. she'd had scraps of metal embedded all over her body and one of her legs had been severed below the knee - it was a miracle she had made it to the ER with her heart even beating. he'd given her lots of pain medication, talked to her as he tried desperately to stop her bleeding, comforted her in her last moments. he'd learned that her name was emily, she was 24 years old, she had a cat named patches, and he was about to find out the name of her girlfriend when her eyes fluttered closed and she flat-lined. he tried a round of CPR but then he had called it- there was nothing more he could've done.

time of death had been 6:38 AM.

after that, he'd spent too many minutes scrubbing her blood off his hands. and he'd seen to it that he called her family and told them what happened...during that, he had found out that her girlfriend's name was natalia.

he wishes he could say he doesn't know why this one patient got to him so much, but he knows exactly why. her case resembled the case of rick, from oh so long ago.

emily had been in a crash, like rick had, and her leg had been severed below the knee, like rick's eventually had. the only difference is that emily hadn't made it, and rick had.

he couldn't stop himself from drawing connections between the two. it was impossible not to. now he was thinking about his rick could've died just as easily, and thinking about how terrible those days had been, and thinking about everything he'd done wrong, and - well, its no surprise he's crying.

his phone buzzes in his back pocket and he pulls it out, wiping another tear from his cheek. he unlocks it to see a ton of notifications, all from rick, asking where he was and if he was okay. the most recent one is that he was heading to the hospital.

he tips his head back again and sighs, knowing its useless to reply to rick cause he knows he's not gonna see the message if he's driving. the least he can do is make his way out front so rick doesn't have to go ask jordan where he is. he can tell this story himself.

he wipes his eyes again as he stands, unlocking the door and inconspicuously making his way out of the supply closet and towards the locker room.

he pulls his bag out of his locker and rifles through it, retrieving his day clothes. he strips out of his scrubs, pulling on the black jeans followed by a plain light grey t-shirt. he pulls out the black and grey plaid flannel he has stuffed in his bag and slips it over his head, pushing the sleeves up his arms. it hangs off of him a bit baggy-like, seeing as its not actually his, but its warm and it smells of rick so he could care less. lastly, he puts on a tan coat before packing up his scrubs and zipping up his bag.

he's made it half way across the room when the door swings open and a familiar form is crossing the room towards drew with a concerned expression spread across his features. a smile flits across drew's face, but it fades as he sees the limp that rick moves with and remembers his leg and emily and how emily is now dead- and he heaves another breath and feels his face heating up again. he turns away from rick and drops his bag, crossing the room to the opposite wall in a few long strides and leaning heavily on it with his hands scrubbing up and down his face.

rick stays put in the middle of the room, his hands held in front in a placating manner. "hey babe...jordan said to check for you in here. you doing okay?"

a bitter laugh escapes his lips and he nods. "yeah, yeah. i'm fine. just...tough shift. sorry to make you drive all the way here."

"hey, you don't look fine. you're really pale."

drew rubs at his eyes more, feeling them continue to water. his throat closes up a bit and he struggles for breath, not trusting himself to speak without his voice cracking.

rick inches towards him with small steps, and drew lets him. he puts one hand on drew's shoulder, and that's all it takes for drew to break.

he lurches forward into rick's arms, clinging onto him like hes about to disappear. he digs his hands into rick's jacket and takes clumps in his fists as he presses his nose into rick's collarbone and takes huge, shuddering breaths. rick's arms close around his back, pressing drew's body flush against his in an effort to comfort him. it works, because drew's tension gradually fades until most of his weight is being held up by rick, and quiet sobs are shaking through his body.

"hey...hey, you're okay. it's okay. i'm here," rick whispers into his ear, rubbing his hand in soothing circles on his back. "you're okay. it's okay."

drew's breath hitches in his throat and he hiccups, looking up at rick with tear-wet cheeks and red eyes. he opens his mouth as if to say something but buries his face back in the fabric of rick's jacket before he gets that far.

"hey...is this my flannel?" rick says gently, in effort to lighten the mood. "i've been looking all over for it."

drew hiccups again and laughs lightly, burrowing farther into rick. he nods.

"c'mon, lets sit down."

drew nods his agreement, letting rick pull him to the ground until he's sat between rick's legs, his knees close to his chest as he leans his full weight against rick with his face still tucked under his chin. rick's legs splay out across the tile floor of the locker room, one bent at the knee and the other straight out. his arms tighten around drew and he presses a kiss to the side of his temple.

"do you want to talk about it?" he asks softly, after drew's shudders have quieted.

drew inhales again, more steady this time, and shakes his head 'no.'

"okay."

they sit like that for a while longer, drew finally relaxing and steadying himself. he's warm and comfortable and he has no intention of getting up.

the door to the locker room opens and rick flinches, preparing for drew to scramble out of his grip. but drew doesn't move, so rick tightens his arms again. jordan walks in and thumps down on the floor opposite them, two cups of coffee held in her hands. she slides them across to rick and drew before laying down so shes on her back, looking up at the ceiling.

"sucky shift."

"understatement of the year," drew mutters, his voice surprisingly steady.

rick takes a sip of his coffee, which draws his husband's attention up to him. he sits up a bit straighter before taking rick's coffee out of his hands and taking a sip. 

"mm. good."

rick chuckles before snatching it back. "my good. yours is here."

"i see. thanks jordan."

"course."

"where's everyone else?" drew asked.

"multi-vehicle accident. i sent a day shift guy and cain out in the field. shannon and paul are helping the day shift prep the ORs and trauma rooms. everyone else had already left."

drew snaps to attention, "i need to go help them-."

he makes to wriggle away from rick's grip but the taller man's arms only tighten around him. "no way. you're in no state for that."

jordan nods. "you go home and get some sleep. we'll need you on your game tonight, since cain, shannon and paul will come in later to make up for me keeping them here late today."

drew makes to protest but thinks better of it. "right. yeah."

"rick, get your idiotic husband home before he passes out on my locker room floor," jordan teases, getting to her feet. "seeya."

"that's not very nice," drew teases, before staggering to his feet. rick follows, a supportive arm slipped around drew's waist.

the door shuts behind jordan as drew is grabbing his bag. rick hands him his coffee and he takes a long sip. "i need a nap."

"i could do for one, too."

"i also need a shower."

"i could do for one of those, as well." rick winks.

a blush rises up drew's face and he bites his bottom lip, elbowing rick in the ribs playfully. "well then, let's go."

...

 


End file.
